Whatever Wednesday: Sometimes I Clean My Faucets Like This

Does anyone else have those new faucets with the "pull-out spray" instead of the one that sits beside the actual faucet?  Have you found it hard to clean the hard water and lime scale off of it?  Ours got so bad that it stopped going back into the faucet like it was suppose to and just hung dangling down.  It drove me crazy! 

I tried filling a plastic sandwich bag with Vinegar and then rubberbanding it to the tip of the spray, but it just doesn't work too well on those pull out spray faucets! 

But this worked:  Lots of cups and a jar to get it to just the right height.  And vinegar going all the way into the faucet.  And of course a rag....actually I don't know why the rag is there.  We'll say it's because I was hoping to catch any vinegar that fell out so I could clean something else? 
I'll say it again, this worked!! 

Furniture Fridays: A Little Side-Table

I found this little table on the side of the road in someone's garbage.  It was a neglected little yellow-wood side table that just needed some love.  The wood was undamaged and it was exactly what I was looking for.

(We had to use it as a kitchen table for a while when we were remodeling our kitchen.)

At first I just spray painted it white to match things in my bedroom, but then it turned out that my son needed a side-table and his room was decorated sea-side-ish with red, white and blue. 

So, red it turned.

Now, however, he is a young teenager and wants a little change for his room. He's going with navy, gold, and dark walnut wood tones.

 

Since it was for his room, I had the teen start helping with the stripping process. 

 And sanding in between each coat of stripper.

 After one last sanding, I donned the gloves, placed a cotton sock over it...

 ...and stirred the stain with a paint stick.  

 I like using a sock better than a paint brush because it runs on smoothly and doesn't leave small bubbles like a brush does. 

Whatever Wednesday: Clip Earring Organizer - A Frame, Some Ribbon, And Some Staples

 Right now my daughter is to tally against piercing her ears which is fine by me!  I was allowed to pierce my ears at age 12, but I admit that I did it because my sister did it when she had turned 12.  I was a tomboy and hardly ever wore earrings anyway, but I do remember looking forward to wearing little studs because I thought I looked rather boyish too and I thought it would help people know I was a girl.  Honestly, no-one ever thougtht I was a boy, it was just a crazy idea in my head but those were my reasons for piercing my ears. 

I don't know if my parents gave me the choice of whom to take with me for that momentous occasion, but it was my dad who drove me to the mall for the new holes.  He did a great job at comforting me and reassuring me that it would be fast and hardly hurt at all.  The woman who was doing the piercings drew a dot on either ear with a Sharpie and asked my Dad if it was even.  He replied in the affirmative and she got ready to proceed. 

Unfortunately something happened and she slipped up or something.  Sadly, when she was through, I had one hole in the center of my lobe and the other almost right next to the opening of my ear.  My dreams of just wearing studs were crushed because it looked ridiculous and uneven.  So any time I did wear earrings they had to be dangle-y ones, which I did not prefer!  I did get a re-piercing when I was 19, but that was a long time to wait! 

Anyway! Back to my daughter and her desire not to pierce her ears.  Since does like dressing up on occasion, she has a fair few of clip earrings.  And my hanging earring organizer just doesn't work for them. So we came up with another idea that has worked pretty well. 

We just chose ribbon that matched the colors in her bedroom. Stapled them onto a frame from the thrift store, and voila!  Ready for hanging those clip earrings!

Many of her earrings we've found at garage sales or antique stores, but have you seen the amazingly fun clip earrings they have nowadays?  At places like Claire's?  They didn't have those when I was a kid!  The feather ones!!  And at the top are some gummy bear ones - love them!     

Make a Mix Monday: Meals in Jar?

I've seen meals in a jar on Pinterest, but always assumed that they wouldn't be large enough to feed a family; a couple maybe, but not a family. 

But I received an email from Mother Earth News (you know, because I moved out to the country and started to sign up for anything and everything that could help me know how to live on land).  This email was advertising the book Meals in a Jar. 

Here's what they say the book has in it:

"STOCK YOU PANTRY WITH HOMEMADE MEALS
Pull it off the shelf. Mix with water. Cook. Serve.
It’s as quick and easy as preparing a box of mac and cheese—but it’s not store-bought junk, it’s your favorite dishes made from scratch. With Meals in a Jar and a little planning, you’ll have your pantry stocked with healthy, delicious ready-to-cook meals, like:
• Tomato Soup with Cheese
• Cheddar Garlic Biscuits
• Cornmeal Pancakes with Syrup
• Breakfast Burritos
• Chicken Chipotle Soup
• Carnitas
• Braised Short Ribs
• Turkey Pot Pie
• Coq Au Vin
• Rustic Fruit Pie
Meals in a Jar is packed with step-by-step instructions for natural breakfasts, lunches, dinners and desserts that allow even the most inexperienced chefs to make scrumptious, nutritious dishes. Not only are the recipes in this book perfect for carry-along camping fare, rushed weeknight dinners and meals for Dad (or even a teenager) to prepare, they can also be life-savers in times of disasters like fires, blackouts or hurricanes."

Sounds kind of amazing!  I wonder if they can them so they are shelf stable....I might just be ready to give those meals in a jar a try.  Have you ever tried a meal in a jar?  How'd it go?

  

 I am not getting paid by anyone for my opinion; just expressing my own opinion and curiosity about the book.    

Furniture Fridays: A Bushel and a Peck (wooden basket display)

 

Anything that helps to make a house more organized is such a wonderful thing!!  At a garage sale in March and I found this great wooden basket holder.  It used to hold bushels of canned produce at a berry farm.

Other than some cobwebs and a little bit of dirtiness, it was in great shape!  But I really love white furniture and I felt like this just needed a quick fix of white paint to really make the baskets pop and become the focal point of the whole piece.  

So, I did a light sanding (because I don't think you need to waste time on a deep sanding when the wood is already pretty raw).   My purpose for sanding was to clean off the bird poo, dirt, and smooth it out so the finished product would be soft and splinter-less. 

  Then I primed it with a water-based primer. 

 Added one coat of our house's trim color.  Done! 

 As a side note:  As I was writing this post I couldn't keep the song, "A Bushel and a Peck" from running through my mind.  You know, the one from Guys and Dolls?  "I love you, a bushel and a peck, a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck..."

Whatever Wednesday: You, too, can make these superhero capes!

Not every child is really gung-ho about Superman and Batman but judging from my own two kids and my nieces and nephews, most kids really like capes!

My grandmother is quite a seamstress and made my son two Batman/Superman capes - interchangeable.  While he was wearing it one day, my nieces and nephew expressed their desire to have one (in their 5 year old way).  But they didn't want Superman or Batman.  So, with scraps from my sister's fabric bins, I made them each an interchangeable cape featuring their favorite movie.

At the time, my nephew liked the cartoon Batman with the darker symbols and he loved The Mask of Zorro!  One niece, wanted to coordinate with her brother's and cousin's Batman, so I made one side Robin.  She also loved the move The Incredibles (ironic that she's getting a cape, I know).  The other niece was more of a princess-y type and, though she still wanted a cape, she requested flowers and trees.  

Here's how they turned out:

So let's talk about how the capes were made.

1. First I cut out an oblong (almost a tear-drop) shape out of the two fabrics that I was using. One for one side of the cape and one for the opposite side of the cape.
2. Then, for example, on the Zorro/Batman cape, I started to make the Zorro side:  Cut out the black "Z" first, then make shaggy cuts on the yellow fabric slightly larger than the black, and again with the red. 
3. Next, I sewed the red and yellow fabrics to the black and then the whole thing onto the black fabric of the cape.
4. For the Batman side, cut the black bat out of the black fabric and sew it onto the grey fabric.
5. Then place both sides decal-side facing each other (right sides together) and sew them together like you would a pillow. 
6. Turn it right-side-out and hand stitch the open seam. 
7. Add Velcro and you're done!

The Zorro cape was the most time consuming, but it only took about an hour to finish that one.  And he LOVED how it turned out and wore it for ages! 

If I were to make one for a princess-y niece now, I think it would be an Elsa or Anna cape.

My grandmother made my son's because she saw some in the store for between $15-$30.  

But I'm telling you, this is a quick, fun, easy project. And I don't even like to sew!! 

So, what kind of cape would your kiddo like? 

Make a Mix Monday: Copycat Bisquick Recipes - Butter VS. Crisco (Vegetable Shortening)

 My mother didn't bake much when I was a child, but when she did, it was usually with Bisquick.  Bisquick waffles, Bisquick "impossible pies", Bisquick sausage cheese balls, you get the picture.  They boast: "Adding Bisquick baking mix to your pantry gives you some quick options. Dinners. Desserts. Egg bakes. Pancakes and waffles. Bisquick is part of the recipe."  That idea sure appealed to many people, but now, being a little more informed about what goes into my meals, I wanted to one, make the copycat Bisquick mix, and two make one with Crisco, and one with unsalted butter.

Since there are so many things that one can make with Bisquick I decided the best way to make a taste difference was to make biscuits.  I mean sausage cheese balls are just delicious whether made with shortening-based biscuit mix or butter-based biscuit mix.  Same goes for the impossible pies - scrumptious!

Before I did this trial, I thought 'I am going to love the butter biscuits better than the Crisco biscuits!' Because I had been hearing not-so-good things about shortening. 

In fact, I read this:  "Shortening is basically a fat that is semisolid at room temperature and can be used for baking. It provides an amazing texture to baked foods – making light and fluffy breads, biscuits, and rolls. You don’t get the same mouthfeel with liquid oil.
Historically, shortening meant lard. But then hydrogenation was invented, and vegetable oils, bombarded with hydrogen atoms suddenly became semisolid at room temperature too. They were cheaper than lard, and became very popular. Crisco, anyone?
Unfortunately, the side effect of hydrogenation is the creation of trans-fatty acids, which are even worse for health than saturated fats of butter and lard." blog.foodcurate.com

 Trans-fatty acids?!  Ugh!  From the Mayo Clinic: "Trans fat raises your LDL ("bad") cholesterol and lowers your HDL ("good") (HDL) cholesterol."  What?  All this time, my mother, who has high cholesterol which three of us kids inherited as well, has been trying to lower her cholesterol while unknowingly baking with things that can cause high cholesterol?!

"Most trans fat is formed through an industrial process that adds hydrogen to vegetable oil, which causes the oil to become solid at room temperature. This partially hydrogenated oil is less likely to spoil, so foods made with it have a longer shelf life.

"The manufactured form of trans fat, known as partially hydrogenated oil, is found in a variety of food products, including:

• Baked goods. Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
• Snacks. Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavor the popcorn.
• Fried food. Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
• Refrigerator dough. Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
• Creamer and margarine. Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils." also from the Mayo Clinic

Just a few more reasons to make your own mixes people!
And, yes, needless to say, I wanted that butter biscuit to taste the best!  

Butter biscuits

Crisco biscuit

 The biscuit on the left is the Crisco mix and the one on the right the Butter mix.  Both were baked for 10 minutes, and I rolled them as close to the same width as possible.  The Crisco ones did end up flakier, fluffier, and, to me, tastier.  But I grew up on them, so for nostalgia, I'm guessing that it is reminiscent of easier days when meals were hot and ready most of the time. 

The inside of the two biscuits.  The Crisco ones were more moist, the butter ones, drier.  Even with that said, I think I want to figure out how to make the butter mix biscuits moister and fluffier.  OR, maybe I'll start trying to make a mix with butter and lard. That just sounds crazy, but it was used for ages before vegetable shortening and it isn't hydrogenated.   Also, sometimes with baking, it's in the way you mix - like only use a wooden spoon, etc.  That sound crazy too, I know, but I have a cookie recipe from waay back and that is what it says.  When I give the recipe to others, most don't follow the recipe and just throw everything into their KitchenAid and the cookies don't turn out.  Then I tell them to use a wooden spoon to mix and they think I'm crazy - until it works for them too.  So, perhaps mixing it in a different way could make them moister and fluffier.

Which would you use?  Crisco (vegetable shortening) or butter?